Is the NMRA Obsolete?
I think the decline in interest in the NMRA reflects a change in our American culture that's been taking place for several decades. In the early part of the 20th Century Americans organized everything. There were more clubs and citizens committees than one could count. When I was a child there was a concern that less and less parents were joining the PTA, and many who did join never attended the meetings.
The same was true of the Boy Scouts... everyone talked about how less and less of us boys were in the Boy Scouts. If you watch old movies from the 30s through the 70s you frequently see Scouting portrayed. When was the last time you saw a new movie or TV show where one of the kids was in the scouts? I quit after I finished Cub Scouts, but family members told me that if my father had been alive I'd never have been allowed to quit. And frankly, I admire any young man or woman who participates in scouting today.
Ironically, I am a member of the NMRA. I think they need our support, if only to keep the conventions happening. I think the conventions are very important for model railroading. However the NMRA Certifications remind me of the merit badges given out in scouting. I never had time to work on them either. Why actually go outside, or down into your workshop, and do stuff when you can live an entire universe of experiences vicariously through your television, computer, or video game box?